The Government The Ministry of the Environment (submitted to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority) APPLICATION FOR LICENCE UNDER THE NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES ACT Applicant: The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB), corp. ID no. 556175-2014, Box 250, SE-101 24 Stockholm, Sweden Matter: Application for licence under the Nuclear Activities Act for construction, ownership and operation of a nuclear facility for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. ____________ PDF rendering: DokumentID 1282973, Version 1.0, Status Godkänt, Sekretessklass Öppen 2 (48) Contents 1. Background and orientation regarding the matter at hand ........................................... 6 1.1 SKB’s task .......................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Fuel quantities and types .................................................................................... 7 1.3 The purpose of the applied for activity ............................................................... 8 1.4 Statutory requirements ........................................................................................ 9 1.5 Reports on SKB’s activities to the Government ............................................... 11 1.6 The scope of the review .................................................................................... 12 1.7 The contents of the application ......................................................................... 13 2. SKB and the nuclear fuel programme ........................................................................ 14 2.1 Safety – the superordinate goal ........................................................................ 14 2.2 The KBS-3 method ........................................................................................... 15 2.3 The KBS-3 system ............................................................................................ 17 2.3.1 Clab – central interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel ................ 17 2.3.2 Interim storage facility and encapsulation facility – Clink ................... 17 2.3.3 Transportation ....................................................................................... 18 2.3.4 The final repository facility .................................................................. 18 3. The site of the final repository facility ....................................................................... 19 3.1 Site selection ..................................................................................................... 19 3.2 Site characteristics ............................................................................................ 21 3.3 National interests .............................................................................................. 22 4. The activity in the final repository facility ................................................................. 22 4.1 The phases of the final repository facility ........................................................ 22 4.2 Management and control during construction, operation and decommissioning ....................................................................................................... 23 4.3 The design of the final repository facility......................................................... 24 4.4 Deposition of canisters ..................................................................................... 24 4.5 Backfilling of deposition tunnels ...................................................................... 25 4.6 Closure of the facility ....................................................................................... 25 4.7 Future decommissioning of the facilities .......................................................... 26 4.8 Possibility of retrieving canisters...................................................................... 26 4.9 The post-closure period .................................................................................... 26 PDF rendering: DokumentID 1282973, Version 1.0, Status Godkänt, Sekretessklass Öppen 3 (48) 4.10 Preservation of knowledge for the future ...................................................... 27 5. Strategies for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel ...................................................... 27 5.1 General .............................................................................................................. 27 5.2 Methods for final disposal in bedrock .............................................................. 28 5.3 The zero alternative .......................................................................................... 30 6. Satisfying requirements on nuclear safety for the final repository system ................ 31 6.1 Safety analysis report and safety assessment.................................................... 31 6.2 SR-Operation safety assessment ....................................................................... 31 6.3 SR-Site safety assessment ................................................................................ 32 7. Post-closure safety and radiation protection .............................................................. 32 7.1 The risk criterion............................................................................................... 33 7.2 Construction and design of the final repository’s barriers ................................ 34 7.2.1 The fuel ................................................................................................. 34 7.2.2 The canister ........................................................................................... 34 7.2.3 The buffer .............................................................................................. 35 7.2.4 The rock ................................................................................................ 35 7.3 Reference evolution and scenarios ................................................................... 36 7.4 Handling of uncertainties .................................................................................. 37 7.5 Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 37 8. Safety and radiation protection during operation ....................................................... 38 8.1 Design of radiation protection .......................................................................... 38 8.2 Physical protection............................................................................................ 39 8.3 Safeguards......................................................................................................... 40 9. Licensing under the Nuclear Activities Act and permissibility under the Environmental Code ............................................................................................................ 40 9.1 Applications under the Nuclear Activities Act for encapsulation facility (Clink) and final repository ........................................................................................ 40 9.2 Applications under the Environmental Code for Clab, Clink and the final repository ................................................................................................................... 41 9.3 Future applications and licences/permits .......................................................... 42 10. Discussion of conditions ............................................................................................ 43 11. Environmental requirements in particular .................................................................. 44 11.1 Environmental impact statement and consultations ...................................... 44 11.2 Permissibility under Chap. 2 of the Environmental Code – Operations and the general rules of consideration .............................................................................. 45 PDF rendering: DokumentID 1282973, Version 1.0, Status Godkänt, Sekretessklass Öppen 4 (48) 12. Miscellaneous ............................................................................................................. 46 12.1 Financial security for compensation in the event of nuclear accidents ......... 46 12.2 Security in accordance with to Chap. 16, Sec. 3 of the Environmental Code................................................................................................... 47 13. Formalities ................................................................................................................. 47 13.1 Contact person at SKB .................................................................................. 47 13.2 Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty ................................................................... 47 PDF rendering: DokumentID 1282973, Version 1.0, Status Godkänt, Sekretessklass Öppen 5 (48) PETITIONS Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) applies for a licence under the Act (1984:3) on Nuclear Activities 1. to construct, own and operate a facility for final disposal of nuclear material, consisting primarily of spent nuclear fuel, as well as nuclear waste1 from the Swedish nuclear power programme, in Forsmark in Östhammar Municipality. The nuclear material and waste are specified in section 1.2 below. 2. to manage, handle, transport, dispose of and otherwise deal with the material specified in point 1 within the facility. SKB further requests (i) that the prepared environmental impact statement (EIS) be approved, and (ii) that